Travel expert sets record straight on whether passenger should move seats on plane for family

A travel expert has set the record straight on the hot debate of the travel season: should you move seats on a plane to allow a family to sit together?

There’s been a couple scenarios recently of people refusing to swap their seat for children or their parents.

And a woman took to TikTok when a mum-of-two had sat in her assigned window seat on the plane.

When she challenged her about it, the mum apparently said: “Oh, you want to sit here? I thought we could switch because these are my kids.”

But the woman refused, explaining in the video’s caption she’d only had 90 minutes of sleep the night before and was about to give a presentation to 500 people.

She simply didn’t want to give up her window seat and have to sit in a middle seat instead.

She also added that the two children were ages 11 and 15.

She continued in the caption: “The woman proceeded to complain for 15 minutes to the next person, loud enough so I could hear. But the woman actually defended me - several times. It was so kind and appreciated because I was actually feeling really guilty.”

And now, Nicole Campoy Jackson (a long-time writer and editor focused on travel) has weighed in on the debate.

“In this particular case [of the TikToker], I understand why she didn’t want to move. A window seat, especially one pre-booked as such, is very much not the same thing as a middle seat,” she told People.

She advised that passengers should select their seats ahead of time ‘for this exact reason’.

“I don’t think that you can board a plane with the expectation of someone leaving their seat for you,” Jackson added.

"Generally speaking, don’t board a plane expecting passengers to shift for you," she said.

Jackson also says that if someone declines to switch seats ‘it’s no longer that one passenger’s responsibility’.

Others have had similar problems too, like the TikToker who was asked to move from her 1A plane seat – a very desirable seat.

She insisted she’s ‘not a terrible human being’ and users supported her saying if they wanted to sit together they ‘should’ve booked it that way’.

Which is quite fair enough if you think about.

If we paid for our seat, we’re sitting in it.

Featured Image Credit: Gonzalo Azumendi/Getty Images/Freemixer/Getty Images

Topics: TikTok, Travel, Plane Etiquette

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_